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Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Homegrown Blackberry Pie

Blackberry pie is an annual tradition when our bushes start producing ripe fruit. Flaky crust hides that amazing filling that is the perfect combination of sweet fruit with just a hint of lemon.

When we moved into our house a few years ago, we knew we were getting a couple of bonuses to go along with the house. The first was a strawberry patch and the second was a stand of thornless blackberries. We moved in September though, so we had no idea just how fruitful they would be.

The first year we had soooo many strawberries. We ate our fill and had plenty for the freezer. The second year we had a little munchkin in the spring time that was eating the strawberries as quickly as we could pick them. Now we tend to use them up as we go, but occasionally have a few extra for the freezer. They are great for winter time smoothies, purees and sauces.

The biggest surprise was the blackberries. There were a million of them and they are HUGE!

This year I made a blackberry shortcake cake, a peach blackberry galette and a blackberry crunch with them while they were fresh. Little Dude also ate a few each day and we shared some with our neighbor kid. He and Little Dude will eat them no matter how ripe or how tart they are! It makes me pucker up just thinking about it! The rest went to the freezer for winter baking, jams and sauces. So I was excited to pull some out to make a pie. It seems to be a tradition that we have at least one blackberry pie each year now. I always add a bit of lemon to it too. I just love lemon and berries together!

My little guy is always happy to help in the kitchen, so we made a pie. MiMi brought over some homemade ice cream and we were all quite happy with our little taste of summer. Of course you don't have to make this with homegrown blackberries. Any version of fresh or frozen blackberries will work. This particular pie ran out of one of my vent holes a bit, so it isn't the prettiest pie we have ever had. It was certainly delicious anyway!

First of all... I'm extremely jealous. We just moved into a new house and I have to start all over with strawberry plants. AND... I'm considering planting some blackberries and raspberries because to be honest I go pick the wild ones that grow in the ditches along our farm where my mom lives. The blackberries usually are down the side of a shaded hill and I ALWAYS get stabbed by their torns. :( I make about 7-10 pies every Friday for the Mr's family sale barn for the kitchen... everyone has been bugging me about blackberry pie so I'm going to give this a try! PS.... I was tell everyone when the juices run out of the holes... it's the best :P

The thornless blackberries are the best! No pain, all gain! You have to keep them trimmed up because only the new growth produces berries, but it is easy and well worth it. I have been amazed by the number of berries we get each year. I love that you have a place to share all of your baked goods!

How lucky to have fresh berries during the summer that you can freeze to enjoy during the long cold winter months. I have tried planting raspberry and blackberry plants but the rabbits and deer get to them before they ever grow.

What a blessing those bushes are! Nothing like going out and eating your fill right off the branch. Jax and his friend have the right idea. But that pie! It, too, is all kinds of awesome, especially with some cold, cold creamy ice cream on the side. Beautiful, Carlee!

Love, love, love your blackberry pie Carlee. Love that it ran out of those holes. In fact it looked so pretty that until I read your line about the pie filling running out of the holes, I actually thought there was a design on your top pie crust. Lovely pie and looove the blackberries. Makes me miss the mulberries that use to grow in our garden (sigh)

We cut some stars for vent holes and that is about as far as we took with with design. This was the first pie the little guy helped with and we had a lot of fun. Now he's going to want to "paint" all of our pies! There used to be a mulberry tree by the pool we swam at as kids. We could get out and snack on a few between laps. They were so good!

Oh Carlee it looks delicious! I'm Jealous of your blackberries...I had a big patch of wild blackberries out by the pond...but the honeysuckle took over and now they are gone!! Blackberries are a favorite of mine! Great choice for the Pie {party}.

Oooh, I haven't made an apple and blackberry crumble yet. I'll have to see if I have enough berries left in the freezer to make something like that. If not, I'll have to try to remember to that with this year's harvest. Thank you!

Oh my gosh, this pie looks delicious! I'm so jealous of your strawberry patch and blackberry stand. That is so awesome. And what a fun club to be involved in. If I didn't already have so much on my plate, I would join in!

I completely understand. I love the idea of so many blogger groups (like your leftovers club) but as it is there are times I'm not sure how I'm going to get everything done! Maybe one of these we'll find all of those extra spare hours in our day. If you ever change your mind, we'd love to have you!

I go back and forth between using flour and corn starch. One of my favorite berry pies uses tapioca as a thickener, but I am less likely to have that on hand. I am usually a think of it and want to make it now kind of person, so I have to make due with what I've already got!

Once moving to the farm, I found that we had more blackberries than I can ever begin to process into delicious goodies. But, let me tell you I am JEALOUS that yours are thornless! Your pie looks delicious!

The fact they are thornless makes all of the difference! I really like just giving them a rinse and a good dry and throwing them into the freezer. That way I can bake with them during the winter when I have more time. They can still be made into sauces and jams later too. As long as you have the freezer space, I couldn't recommend it highly enough!

When we were growing up we lived in the country, there were wild raspberries and mulberries, we would help our mom and gran pick them, they were so much smaller than these, it took forever. These look like they would be so much quicker to get enough for a pie, and they look delish!

It does go pretty quickly when they are so big! Last summer there was a day I went out with my biggest strainer to pick berries and had to come in for another bowl too. We had enough for a pie and some for the freezer within probably 15 minutes!

I always look forward to the fresh Blackberries from our bush. Thank you so much for sharing with us for our 5th Anniversary of Full Plate Thursday! Hope you have a fantastic week and hope to see you again real soon!Miz Helen

Ours are actually really easy to take care of. We just trim all of the old grown out every fall and try to keep them staked up so they aren't to unruly during the spring and summer. The lack of thorns makes picking the berries a pleasant experience too! We have really enjoyed having them!